Story+2003-03-07+Atlantic+City,+NJ

´´Good evening New Jersey....great to be here....out on the boardwalk in Atlantic City...it´s real old school tonight this building, very old school....that´s good....so there´s, uh....a lot, lot of great music been in this building, I think the Beatles played here and the Stones played here....back in the day (chuckles)....thanks, oh....need a little bit of quiet for these next few songs, please, thank you....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´Empty Sky´**

´´Thank you....I wrote that song....need a little light....I wrote that song, that was the last song I wrote, I think, for ´The Rising´....I was looking for a cover and.....a fella that was coming up with some ideas sent me over a....just a picture of an empty sky...and uh, thought it was an important metaphor but there´s, uh....there´s one thing that always bothers me a little bit, occasionally when I play that song, I hear some applause for, for a line, uh....´I want an eye for an eye´....and uh, as a songwriter, you always write to be understood....and I wrote that phrase as an expression of the....character´s anger and, and confusion and grief and it was never written to be a....call for blind revenge or bloodlust (cheers)....so, I just thought given, given the times we live in, you can´t be too clear about these kinds of things these days and uh....and I realise that it could´ve been a well-meaning few or perhaps borderline...some borderline psychotics out there who may have misunderstood.....but uh....living in a time when there´s real lives on the line and there´s enough destructive posing going on out there as it is, I wanted to make sure that that line was clearly understood so, thanks for listening....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´You´re Missing´**

´´Are you ready for a house party, New Jersey style ?....alright....well, if you´re gonna have a house party....Jersey style....where all the women are beautiful....and all the men are potential mafia recruits....well, if you´re gonna have a house party, Jersey style, the music has got to be raucous....well, I wanna introduce to you the greatest little houseband in all the land....the (?) piano pounder, ´Professor´ Roy Bittan....out of New York City, ´Sister´ Soozie Tyrell on the violin and vocals....ladies and gentlemen, on the guitar, Silvio, Silvio, wherefore art thou Silvio, the coolest little d.j in the U.S.A, Little Steven....on the bass guitar, Mr.Garry W. Tallent....on the drums, from South Orange, New Jersey....the man that bring the power hour after hour after hour night after night after night, ladies and gentlemen, the minister of rhythm, the king of the big beat and star of late night (crowd : ´Television !´), ´Mighty´ Max Weinberg....on the guitar, the great, great Nils Lofgren....on the organ, out of Flemington, New Jersey, ´Brother´ Dan Federici....and ladies and gentlemen, on the far side of the stage, the First Lady of Love, on guitar and vocals, Jersey girl, Miss Patti Scialfa....and last but not least....do I have to say his name ?....do I have to say his name ?....don´t make me say it..... I´m talking about the minister of soul....emperor of the Garden State...ladies and gentlemen, you wish you could be like him but you can´t because there´s only one Clarence ´Big Man´ Clemons....that´s right....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, middle of ´Mary´s Place´**

´´Thank you....oh yeah, need some of this in my monitor....I need some voice in my monitor ....one, two, there it is....alright, gonna send this one out to.....you know who.....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´Jersey Girl´**

´´Gonna, uh....wanna send that ´Into the Fire´ out there to our friends here in the Atlantic City Fire Department, they´re here tonight, that´s for you guys....first time I....came down to Atlantic City, my mother brought me down, and my mom´s here tonight so I´m gonna send this one out to her....mamma, mamma....mamma mia....and uh (chuckles) and uh, she brought me down here one afternoon, me and my sister, I saw my first....rock show ever, I saw Chubby Checker...he was really good....and uh, we saw him on the Steel Pier and they had like a, an afternoon teenage dance thing and Chubby Checker came out and sang and there was some other folks too, but, then the main thing I remember is that she took us that night to see Anita Bryant (chuckles)....so I had a kind of a mixed experience a little bit but uh.... but it was enjoyable so, uh....there´s been a lot of, uh, great bands that played here on this stage behind us in this building, it´s nice to see these old buildings that are refurbished and brought back to life because, uh....there´s a soulfulness in ´em that you can´t quite, uh.....you know, they always remain a little on the funky side and that´s, that´s hard to come by these days (chuckles) but uh....anyway, we´re glad to be here in Atlantic City Convention Hall and we´re gonna, uh, dedicate this next song to all the bands that played in this room that inspired us....hope we do alright with this....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´Tell Me Why´**

´´Come on, Steve.....(Steve : ´Yeah´)....we gotta keep rocking, baby.... (Steve : ´But the tables are waiting´) What ? (Steve : ´Tables are waiting´)...yeah ?...Steve wants to make it to that crabtable.... (Steve : ´Yeah´)...and I got me a big suite....I got a jacuzzi in my livingroom ....and uh, hosts of adult erotica on the television....(?)....we have been playing a long time.... I think there´s a curfew too....I think I got a cheeseburger waiting....I think I do....good night, everybody....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, middle of ´Glory Days´**

´´Gonna do this tonight for some friends of ours that are in the house : Community Foodbank of New Jersey...they´re uh....there´s nearly one million people in the state of Jersey that are struggling out there and with the help of volunteers, the Community Foodbank distributes millions of pounds of food to the needy every year, they are folks that are out there on the frontline doing good work....doing....lot of the things we´re singing about....they can use your assistance, your support, if you see them on the way out, please, uh....support the Community Foodbank of New Jersey, this is....this is for those folks, thank you....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´My City of Ruins´**

´´Wrote this song in the early, early 1980´, wrote it as an....anti-war song, hope I don´t have to write it again, this is something I wanna send out tonight....a prayer for peace, a prayer for the safety of our sons and daughters, safety of innocent Iraqi civilians....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´Born in the U.S.A´**

´´One more for this man I clubbed with the guitar (chuckles)....sorry about that (chuckles)....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´Dancing in the Dark´**

´´One more for you high-rollers out there.....”
 * 07.03.03 Atlantic City, NJ, intro to ´Roll of the Dice´**